Crystal yea or nea (Bloomington, Brooklyn Park: for sale, real estate, apartments) - Minneapolis - St. Paul - Minnesota (MN) -Twin Cities - City-Data Forum

blackpointyboots · 03-25-2016, 02:30 PM

I found a house that ticked most of the boxes for what we are looking for. Mid Century fixxer upper in relatively good shape, trees, some sort of privacy etc. It is in Crystal, somewhere I had left off my list.

The property is in "Winnetka Hills" and is in a southern section of Crystal that is near Golden Valley. School district doesn't matter since the youngest will be done with school before we would move. This location is 6.2 miles to Ridgedale. That and the shopping at 394 is probably what I would end up using most.

The reason I am a bit concerned is I lived in New Hope briefly in the 1980's and it was horrible. Blighted everything, empty boarded up retail, what retail was there was run down and neglected. Lots of people who seemed to be about one paycheck away from being on the skids. But that was the 1980's. Is this pocket of Crystal pretty decent? Has this section of town (Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope) turned itself around over the decades or is it still pretty undesirable?

This is the property in case anyone was curious
3400 Utah Avenue N, Crystal, MN For Sale | Trulia.com

Radical_Car · 03-25-2016, 05:17 PM

I've lived in New Hope right on the border of Crystal for over 2 years. It's not Maple Grove or Eden Prairie but it's a decent blue collar, nothing fancy or anything, but it's just fine. and the further south you go closer to Golden Valley, the nicer it gets and my sister and myself are maybe looking to buy a townhome eventually here. As for schools, I have no clue because I don't have kids and didn't grow up in the Twin Cities.

And as far as boarded up retail, haven't noticed myself. The HyVee was just built in New Hope and is fantastic, the Crystal Target is nice, a lot nicer then the Brooklyn Center Target.

The location of that house your looking at is perfectly fine. I live in the northern Part of New Hope/Crystal by West Broadway and Bass Lake Road, right by the southern park of Brooklyn Center and theres been nothing wrong with this area in the 2+ years i've lived here, and I quite enjoy living here. And like I said the further south you go closer to Golden Valley, the better it is (just my opinion)

It's worth noting im a 23 year old that lived in Annandale for 16 years and St Cloud for 5+ years. If someone from Annandale says it's a decent area, then it most likely is.

Kebinminn · 03-30-2016, 11:37 AM

I would have no concerns about that area. The New Hope you describe isn't the New Hope I see. All of the inner ring suburbs are working toward making sure that there is no blight. I can think of an area of off Winnetka, close to the house you're looking at, that does have some closed businesses and there's a lot of talk about replacing it with apartments. I think that's on the Golden Valley side.

earslikeacat · 03-30-2016, 06:19 PM

My advise to a similar question not long ago was this: don't purchase anything north of Route 55.
The house you mentioned is one of hundreds of for sale signs in the area. That.s a problem, in my property ownership eyes.
Wait until you can find a home in the more desirable area of Golden Valley that you mentioned. There aren.t many: that tells you people STAY in good neighborhoods and LEAVE bad neighborhoods.
God-fearing people are trying to get out of Robbinsdale northwards and west to Crystal and New Hope. You lived in NH in the 80's: the real estate bubble burst in the late 2000's. Forget about ever leaving and not being upside down on your mortgage should you move there.
Ever been into that Cub on 36th? Go check out your new neighbors! We almost did buy a house nearby but thank goodness the fiance.s real estate agent told us the real story.

Radical_Car · 03-31-2016, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by earslikeacat

My advise to a similar question not long ago was this: don't purchase anything north of Route 55.
The house you mentioned is one of hundreds of for sale signs in the area. That.s a problem, in my property ownership eyes.
Wait until you can find a home in the more desirable area of Golden Valley that you mentioned. There aren.t many: that tells you people STAY in good neighborhoods and LEAVE bad neighborhoods.
God-fearing people are trying to get out of Robbinsdale northwards and west to Crystal and New Hope. You lived in NH in the 80's: the real estate bubble burst in the late 2000's. Forget about ever leaving and not being upside down on your mortgage should you move there.
Ever been into that Cub on 36th? Go check out your new neighbors! We almost did buy a house nearby but thank goodness the fiance.s real estate agent told us the real story.

And what exactly is wrong with the Cub on 36th? Been in there numerous times along with the Cub and Walmart and Target in Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center and numerous other retail through Brooklyn Park, Center, New Hope, Crystal, etc.

Glenfield · 03-31-2016, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by earslikeacat

My advise to a similar question not long ago was this: don't purchase anything north of Route 55.
The house you mentioned is one of hundreds of for sale signs in the area. That.s a problem, in my property ownership eyes.
Wait until you can find a home in the more desirable area of Golden Valley that you mentioned. There aren.t many: that tells you people STAY in good neighborhoods and LEAVE bad neighborhoods.
God-fearing people are trying to get out of Robbinsdale northwards and west to Crystal and New Hope. You lived in NH in the 80's: the real estate bubble burst in the late 2000's. Forget about ever leaving and not being upside down on your mortgage should you move there.
Ever been into that Cub on 36th? Go check out your new neighbors! We almost did buy a house nearby but thank goodness the fiance.s real estate agent told us the real story.

The advice to never buy north of Hwy 55 is nonsense. There are some very nice areas in that part of town. The use of the term "Route" 55 is a signal that this poster is really not familiar with the Twin Cities area. No one here says that.

Radical_Car · 03-31-2016, 11:10 PM

And north of 55 to where? Where does the "bad" part end? Unless you mean everything above 55 is bad, but then in that case you'd be calling places such as Maple Grove bad.

And about the people staying in nice areas and leaving bad areas, Brooklyn Park is the 2nd largest suburb in the metro and might eventually surpass Bloomington.

earslikeacat · 04-01-2016, 05:18 AM

Does calling Route 55 "Olsen Memorial Highway" compute now? Is that now bona-fide proof we live here, Glenfield?

Min-Chi-Cbus · 04-01-2016, 07:30 AM

Sounds like your RE agent was steering you, which I thought was illegal?

Stanton1433 · 04-01-2016, 08:34 AM

I think Crystal and New Hope are decent. These areas are in the infamous Northwest Corridor which is a large working class area (Coon Rapids, Fridley, Andover, Blaine, Robinsdale, ect.) though like anything there are nicer areas and you have to project in the future of what these areas will be like 10 to 20 years from now. The nicest suburbs in this area are Maple Grove, Plymouth and Golden Valley.
Whenver I choose an area to live, I look for an area that is close prox to a corridor or hub. (Close to a highway, by a mall or shopping district, historic downtown, or a highway leading to downtown)